MANHATTAN, Kan. -- Gene Taylor smiled and leaned back in his office chair to glance out the third-floor window into the football stadium at Kansas State, with its artificial surface glazed with ice on this February morning.
He stopped for a split-second, turned back to the questioner and nodded in agreement.
Two months earlier, K-State was without a coach as Taylor assessed candidates in the wake of Bill Snyder's decision to retire after 27 seasons and 215 victories. The situation for the second-year athletic director was tenuous. Taylor had to move quickly, navigating with an anxious fan base and an unsteady football staff.